Maloney, Skartados push for immigration reform at Newburgh event

CITY OF NEWBURGH — Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is urging Congress to take immediate action to pass immigration reform that he says will create businesses and grow the economy.

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By CHRIS VALDEZ

recordonline.com

By CHRIS VALDEZ

Posted Nov. 10, 2013 at 2:00 AM

By CHRIS VALDEZ

Posted Nov. 10, 2013 at 2:00 AM

By the numbers

11.7 million: Number of unauthorized immigrants living in the U.S. in 2012

11.3 million: Unauthorized immigrants in 2009

3.5 million: Unauthorized immigrants in 1990

2.1 millio...

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By the numbers

11.7 million: Number of unauthorized immigrants living in the U.S. in 2012

11.3 million: Unauthorized immigrants in 2009

3.5 million: Unauthorized immigrants in 1990

2.1 million: Children and young adults could be eligible for legal status under the DREAM Act

$11 billion: Amount sent to Mexico annually by immigrants in America, representing the country's second-largest source of income.

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CITY OF NEWBURGH — Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is urging Congress to take immediate action to pass immigration reform that he says will create businesses and grow the economy.

Maloney, D-Cold Spring, is a co-sponsor for a House bill that is similar to a Senate bill that passed 68-32 on June 27. He believes Congress has the support needed to pass the legislation if House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, allows a vote.

During a news conference Saturday at the Newburgh Armory Unity Center, Maloney said the proposed bill strengthens border security and verifies the work eligibility, while providing a route for undocumented immigrants to earn legal status. It's not a handout, but a fair way for hard-working people and their children to become citizens, he said.

Maloney said it's imperative to give immigrant children the opportunity to receive an education and prosper in this country. The Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act is an attempt to provide high-school graduates or GED recipients a pathway to citizenship through college or the armed services. The DREAM Act has garnered bipartisan support but failed to get enough votes to become law.

"When we break down barriers of bigotry and oppression, we make ourselves stronger," Maloney said.

The congressman was joined Saturday by Assemblyman Frank Skartados, D-Milton, and members of nonprofit organizations who expressed similar views.

Mark Adams, president of the Dutchess, Putnam and Westchester Farm Bureau, said the farming industry would be one of the biggest beneficiaries of reform. He said the industry needs a "willing legal workforce" or food may be produced offshore.

"It's good for the economy, it's good for business and it's the right thing to do," Skartados said to a loud ovation. "It's time for us to make some noise and be loud enough that it can be heard all the way in Washington."

Maloney told the crowd, "The time to act is now on immigration reform."

News reports indicate Congress will not vote on the legislation this year.

House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy of California said Friday at a Washington meeting with immigration reform supporters that time was running out for the House to act before the year's end, but he was committed to taking up immigration overhaul next year.

Separately, Stephanie Valle, a spokeswoman for Rep. Chris Gibson, R-Kinderhook, said the Senate bill isn't sufficient because it would reduce illegal immigration by less than half.

"We are, at once a nation of immigrants and a nation of laws," she said via email. "Going forward, we need to reconcile these two principles in a manner grounded in reality and experience and insist on reform that works."

Maloney said he welcomes input from Gibson and other representatives to create bi-partisan legislation. "This is about working together to build a stronger country," he said.